Seattle burns, McGinn and Mallahan fiddle

Seattle is facing a $72 million operating budget deficit next year and the two men running for mayor spent Friday arguing about one of the most ineffectual things outgoing incumbent Greg Nickels did in his two terms in office – imposing a gun ban that will almost certainly be tossed out in court.

And this being the Emerald City, Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn battled over nuances of liberalism that would be lost on people who can’t actually see the Space Needle from their backyards.

Early Friday the McGinn campaign sent out a news release saying “Joe Mallahan no longer supports Nickels’ gun ban” on city property frequented by kids. State Attorney General Rob McKenna says the gun prohibition is illegal.

McGinn has said he’s supportive of the mayor’s efforts, telling seattlepi.com previously, “I suppose, there may be legal challenges to that, and I think the city should work to demonstrate it’s appropriate to ban guns from parks and public facilities.”

In its news release, the McGinn campaign points to various statements Mallahan has made in which he expressed doubts about Nickels’ ban but spoke favorably of getting guns off the street.

Mallahan’s campaign fired back Friday afternoon, telling McGinn to “stop lying to Seattle’s voters and tell the truth about public safety.” Mallahan says McGinn’s campaign is trying to scare voters with robocalls that “mislead families with children, seniors and other Seattle citizens about my commitment to public safety.”

“Make no mistake: I support what Mayor Nickels is trying to achieve with the gun ban in city parks. I look forward to working with community organizations, law enforcement, and neighborhoods to find pragmatic ways to reduce gun violence and crime in our schools, homes, and public parks,” Mallahan said in a statement.

Now I can’t see that Mallahan ever said flat out he was in favor of Nickels’ gun ban. When I spoke to him earlier this month he talked about the need to battle gun violence but also said any solution had to be “practical.”

But the dustup over the gun ban illustrates just how little of substance the two men disagree about. There’s the viaduct tunnel replacement (and that’s a huge one – Mallahan is for it; McGinn against it) and the $25 per-employee head tax on businesses in the city (Mallahan is against it; McGinn is for it). That’s about it.

Oh, sure, the differences in style and in the people who support the two men are significant. Mallahan, the T-Mobile executive, runs a big, professional and debt-laden campaign that is backed by the business and labor interests that previously supported Nickels. McGinn, the attorney and environmentalist, runs a much smaller, volunteer-heavy campaign and is running on a populist platform.

But Mike and Joe see eye-to-eye on most things. They both support expanded gay rights, the tax levy to help poor people find homes, trimming the city bureaucracy and improving relationships with the Legislature.

As for the firearms ban, this is what it consists of – signs at designated facilities notifying visitors of the new rule.

If either one wanted to distinguish themselves on the gun ban they should’ve said: “This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. It won’t work, won’t survive a court challenge and, frankly, the city’s leadership should be developing substantive solutions to combat violent crime and fix the busted budget.”